PROFILE / Theresa Sparks / Transgender San Franciscan makes history as Woman of the Year

Ray Delgado, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Friday, April 4, 2003

Photo: CARLOS AVILA GONZALEZ

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San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner, Theresa Sparks, standing, speaks with Larry Brinkin, right, and Cynthia Goldstein of the commission during a earing on Thursday, March 27, 2003. Sparks was honored as "Woman of the Year," by the California State Assembly. (CARLOS AVILA GONZALEZ/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE) less

San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner, Theresa Sparks, standing, speaks with Larry Brinkin, right, and Cynthia Goldstein of the commission during a earing on Thursday, March 27, 2003. Sparks was honored as ... more

Photo: CARLOS AVILA GONZALEZ

PROFILE / Theresa Sparks / Transgender San Franciscan makes history as Woman of the Year

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It was quite an entrance by anyone's standards.

A silence fell over the crowded floor of the state Assembly in Sacramento last week as lawmakers and their staffs slowly realized what they were about to witness.

Heads turned as Theresa Sparks nervously made her entrance along a walkway on the Assembly floor, the first transgender woman ever to be honored as an Assembly "Woman of the Year."

As uncomfortable as she was to break down that barrier, it was a journey that the Nob Hill resident was more than happy to take as part of an ongoing battle to raise transgender awareness for people in the mainstream.

"After my bio was read, there was no question that I had 400 pairs of eyes on me," Sparks said. "There was an instant where I was uncomfortable but my position is to never be ashamed of who I am. I made it a point to make eye contact with people, on both sides of the aisle."

Sparks, 53, was relieved to see big smiles and thumbs up from various lawmakers, many of whom made it a point after the ceremony to congratulate her on the distinction. But she also saw a few heads quickly turn away as she made eye contact while walking down the hallway, a reaction she has come to expect during the eight years she has lived as a woman.

Sparks never intended to become an activist when she made the decision to shed her life as a husband and father of three, but it's a position she has embraced after becoming more comfortable in her life as a woman.

Born and raised in Kansas City, Sparks enjoyed dressing up in women's clothing from a very early age but fought those urges as a young man.

A Vietnam veteran, Sparks got married in 1971 and had three children before he told his wife about his inner turmoil in 1980. Sparks and his wife quickly separated and later divorced. He began a process of intense therapy and an electric shock treatment in an attempt to suppress his desire to live as a woman.

Many counseling sessions and another marriage later, Sparks finally realized the only way he would find inner peace would be to live as a woman. A trial period led to a full-time existence as a woman by 1997 and Sparks traveled to Thailand three years later for sexual reassignment surgery.

She settled in San Francisco in 1997 to blend in easier, increase therapy and find work. She ran up against what she perceived as discrimination when she was turned down for at least 100 jobs during the dot-com boom, despite her background as an environmental services executive.

"I thought with my experience, I would be able to find something really quickly," Sparks said. She eventually found jobs as a taxi driver, a bank teller and a census taker before landing her current job as a financial manager of Good Vibrations, a $15 million corporation that specializes in sex toys and publishing.

She found love along the way, settling into a three-year relationship with a freelance journalist.

Sparks became an activist soon after her move to San Francisco and compiled an extensive resume of causes that resulted in her state assembly honor.

Since 1999, she has lobbied the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for transgender rights and medical benefits, chaired a task force that addressed issues of police sensitivity toward transgendered people, organized vigils for transgendered murder victims and founded the Transgendered Political Caucus in 2000 to advise local politicians about transgender issues.

Her extensive work for transgender causes prompted Mayor Willie Brown to appoint her to the city's Human Rights Commission in early 2001, where she serves as chair of the LGBT advisory committee.

"She has a lot of knowledge about gender identity discrimination and was very instrumental in drafting new (sensitivity training) protocols for the police department," said Larry Brinkin, co-manager of the committee.

Sparks also worked extensively on election campaigns for Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, the man who named Sparks the "Woman of the Year" from his district, calling her a trailblazer.

Although Sparks has been recognized for her work in various San Francisco circles, her trip to Sacramento last week was the first time she had left the comfort of her home town to be paraded in front of a slightly more conservative crowd. The anxiety was worth the payoff, she said.

"The community really needs some type of figures or models to look at and to understand that it's OK to do this and to live your life how you feel," Sparks said. "I think role models are very important."

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